Jill Normal Jill 2 24 2003-06-03T20:28:00Z 2003-06-03T20:28:00Z 4 2246 9448 162 17 11825 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Chapter Two: Amazing Grace
Disclaimer: I forgot this in Chapter one, forgive me. JKR is a creative genius who rocks the worlds of readers everywhere. The characters in this fanfic are hers, not mine. I am NOT a creative genius. The only things I own are the situations and the dialogue. Everything else belongs to her. Lucky woman.
A/N: Thanks to SamanthaMarie for Beta work, and Babygrrl for Beta work on Chapter one. You guys rock! Don't forget to read and review. Well, obviously if you are here, you are reading…nevermind. Enjoy!
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She looked at his covered face, and reached her hand up to remove the mask.
"Wait…" he sighed. "you may want to get a little more information before you do, you have to understand that a lot has changed about me in the last three months. I can imagine what a shock it will be to see my face, after so much has happened."
She hesitated, and then placed her hand on her lap. She had waited three months; she was willing to wait a few more minutes. She was still seated next to him, and it suddenly felt as if she were too far away from him. Scooting closer, she put her hand on his shoulder again, resuming the comforting action of before.
"I want to know what happened. I want to know everything."
He looked at her face, absorbing in the smallest details and changes that had happened in three months. It amazed him how much she had changed, and yet, how much was exactly the same. Her eyes were still the same color, but there was a sadness lingering in them now. And the area underneath them was discolored and sagging. Her hair looked the same, only a bit longer. His gaze shifted to her lips; he missed those most of all. The pouty fullness was still there, but he missed her smile. She used to smile all the time, now it looked as if she hadn't smiled in a long time. He sighed and began his story.
"That day, when the skies were black and the castle was under attack, was the longest day of my life. I don't know how much you remember of it, but I'll try to fill in details. We were there with Ron and Dean and the rest of the guys, and then we saw Him. He looked at us, and had an evil sort of smirk on his face. Dumbledore and the rest of the professors were nowhere to be seen, and we couldn't miss this fantastic opportunity to take him down once and for all. He was surrounded by Death Eaters just outside the Forbidden Forrest. He had already killed so many students, just for fun it seemed. The Death Eaters were slowly circling us, making escape impossible. He had his wand pointed at you, and Ron stepped in front of you. He began shouting at Him, calling him names that only Ron could come up with. The Death Eaters were laughing as if at some inside joke, but the joke was Ron. Voldemort grinned at him and shifted his wand so it was pointed right at Ron's chest. I tried to shove him out of the way, but I just wasn't fast enough." He paused to gather his thoughts and to allow the lump in his throat to pass. She squeezed his shoulder for reassurance, and he continued. "He hit him with the Crutiatios curse first, and finished him of with the killing curse. I can still hear Ron's screams…I think the rest of the guys were in shock, because nobody moved. You bent down to Ron and cradled his body, and the Death Eaters descended on the rest of us. They cursed the guys relentlessly with Crucio and Imperio, making them hurt each other, until Voldemort nodded his head and they all fell dead. You and I were the only ones in our little circle that were still alive. I pulled you up to stand next to me, and with tears running down both of our faces, he again pointed his wand at you. I tried to tell him to take me instead, to just let you go. But he didn't think that was a good idea. The next thing I know, He's shouting AVADA KEDAVRA, and I'm shouting, EXPELLIARMUS. I had jumped in front of you, to shield you. I felt the curse hit me, but it didn't feel like last time, or at least what I remember from last time. The effect wasn't the same as last time, either. Last time it made that strange golden cage thing, but this time, it was as if the wands didn't recognize one another. The green blast was a lot lighter in color, and it wasn't nearly as blinding. I saw him hit the ground, and I heard a creaking sound behind us as I hit the ground. His curse wasn't enough to kill me, but it sure as hell hurt a lot. The creaking sound turned into a full blown crash as a giant willow tree came crashing down on us. I felt you fall on top of me, but I couldn't see anything through the tree branches.
"Someone put their hand on me and I felt the familiar pull behind my navel that signified a portkey. It must have been one of the Death Eaters, because where I ended up could only be described as hell. It was a cold, dark room that smelled of blood. Water seemed to be oozing from the walls, which looked to be made of stone. I was surrounded by Death Eaters, there must have been about thirty of them. I didn't see Voldemort anywhere, but he was the least of my worries at that point. You were gone, I wasn't near Hogwarts, and I had no idea where I actually was. Not to mention that the ring of Death Eaters was getting steadily closer to me, and each had their wand drawn. Shackles appeared on my wrists and ankles, and they started shoving me around. The shackles were iron, and dug deeply into my skin. I don't know where my socks and shoes had gone, but they were missing. Also missing was my wand. After about three minutes of shoving me back and forth in their circle, blood was pouring from my ankles. This seemed to satisfy them for a moment, because they gave me one final push. I landed face down on the ground, and I heard an iron door being closed and locked. I was in some sort of jail cell. After lying there for a few minutes, I think I passed out, because the next thing I remember, there was someone in the cell with me. It was a woman, and I thought it was you for a second. I called out your name and she turned and laughed at me. He stopped here and glanced at her. He wasn't sure how she would react to all this information, especially since it had been so long since they had seen one another. He cupped her cheek in his palm and wiped a stray tear with his thumb.
As his thumb grazed her cheek, she closed her eyes and let out her breath. She had unknowingly held it while he told her his story. She leaned her face into his hand and closed her eyes, memories flooding back from many months before, when they had relaxed into each other many times. But she could not relax this time. He had been through so much, and he had only shared with her the first day. What other awful things had he gone through? Why did this have to happen to him? She wondered to herself why she hadn't been there with him, to help him endure his pain. She felt as though she had let him down. If she couldn't help him then, she be damned if she couldn't help him now. He would get through this, she would make sure of it. With her hand on his shoulder, she urged him to continue.
"The woman turned to face me, and it was someone I had never seen before. She looked vaguely familiar, like the shadow of someone I had once known, but her eyes were blank and soulless. She had dark hair, almost black. I wondered what she was doing in my cell, and just as if she could read my mind, she spoke, 'I was sent here to make sure you hadn't died. He isn't done with you, apparently.' She never told me her name, and I didn't ask. I looked down at my hands and feet, the blood had dried, but the scar tissue was forming to the iron shackles. It hurt to look at them, let alone move them. I heard a key in the door, and I looked to see who was coming in. The woman stood and walked out, leaving me alone once more.
"A few hours later, one of the Death Eaters came back and forced me to stand up. He shoved me out the door, and into another room that had a giant oak beam running the length of the room, about nine feet off the ground. There was a thick rope near the center, and a wheeled platform under it. They stood me on the platform, and bound my scarred wrists to the beam. After securing me with intricate knots, they wheeled the platform away, leaving me to hang by my wrists. The pain was so intense, but I refused to vocalize it. The wounds soon reopened, and blood was coursing down my arms. Voldemort came in with about three Death Eaters, and he watched as they took turns hitting me with a bat of some sort. I think I blacked out after about three minutes of this insane torture. When I awoke, I was back in my cell, and I could not see out of my left eye. I reached up, and it was swollen shut. My face was extremely sore, and sticky with drying blood. My wrists had rope burns and cuts, they were beyond hurting. I couldn't lift my arms above my chest; I think my shoulders may have been dislocated. I don't know how long I was unconscious. What I can only assume was a few days later, another Death Eater returned for me. He brought me again to the room I first landed in. There was an iron chair in the center, with more Death Eaters in a circle around it. He sat me down and strapped me in. Voldemort came in and magicked my shirt off. He pointed to two of the Death Eaters, and they came forward, each brandishing his wand. One of them whispered, 'Crucio,' and pain ripped through my entire body. It felt like my blood was on fire, and was burning me from the inside out. I refused to scream, but tears were soon pouring down my cheeks. The second pointed his wand and whispered, 'lacarnum inflamare,' and again, I felt fire, and this time the fire was real. What little hair I had on my body was soon scorched off, and my very flesh began to melt. Voldemort raised his hand and it stopped. Immense relief flooded through me, but it wasn't enough to cool the intense heat. My eyes were squeezed shut, and I don't know what happened next. I heard shuffling all around me and I assumed that the Death Eaters were planning some more horrific torture for my detriment. I guess they thought I had had enough for the time being, because I woke up back in my cell. This continued every few days. They'd do the rope treatment, wait a few days, and then do the iron chair treatment. Voldemort would pick two new death eaters to do the curses, and sometimes they would do different ones, I don't really remember. I never really gained back full eyesight in my left eye; I think they damaged the nerves or something. My face feels like it has been scarred, so I just wanted to warn you before you see it. I'll understand if it bothers you. I haven't seen what it looks like; there haven't been any mirrors where I've been." With this he reached up to remove the mask. She put her hand on his and brought it down to her lap.
"Wait just a second. Can I do it? I don't know what to expect, but no matter what it looks like, I want you to know that nothing, and I mean nothing, can make me stop loving you. Even with you gone for three months, and me thinking you were dead. I never stopped loving you. If anything, I loved you even more. So don't be nervous, ok?" She gave him a small smile, kissed her fingertips, and placed them on his lips.
"…I never stopped loving you, either…just so you know," he then mimicked her actions and kissed his fingertips and placed them on her lips. She kissed them, too. She reached up behind his head, and untied the mask. Sliding the stiff black material down over his face, she revealed him for the first time in three months. As the fabric slid down to the floor, she didn't take her eyes off of him. When his face was uncovered, she gasped.
"Oh, Harry!"